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  Essay | The Death of the Old Middle East—and the Dangerous New World Replacing It *India and Iran have relations. The most dangerous theater is in South Asia. Pakistan and India, both nuclear powers, have been enemies ever since the bloody partition in 1947 that divided them along religious lines. They have since fought five wars—most recently in 2025. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a chronically unstable garrison state with swaggering paladins and feudal political dynasties vying with popular Islamism, surging debts, economic stagnation, internal repression and two bloody insurgencies. Not only does it have a hair-trigger rivalry with India but a new minor war with its ungrateful ally in Afghanistan, the Taliban, which it has been bombing over the past week.   Traditionally Pakistan balanced two patrons: China and the U.S. Pakistan recently turned Trumpian favor (Trump has described Pakistan’s chief of defense forces, Asim Munir, as “my favorite field marshal”) in...
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  Fondos buitre, turistas y alquileres imposibles: ¿qué tipo de ciudad queremos? La acampada en la madrileña Puerta del Sol y en otras capitales ha desencadenado un terremoto político y ha puesto el foco en la vivienda y en el modelo de ciudad. Los movimientos sociales denuncian que las urbes se están convirtiendo en una mezcla de centro comercial y ‘resort’ turístico. Cobra sentido la idea del ‘derecho a la ciudad’ del sociólogo francés Henri Lefevbre: la urbe es de la gente que vive en ella 13 min. GUILLEM ARDERIUS GUITERAS “Madrid / nos pertenece / a ti y a mí”. Aplíquese a Madrid, o a cualquier otra ciudad. Es un verso de Biznaga, la célebre banda de punk rock, conocida por sus letras críticas, siempre atentas a los trances sociopolíticos. El pasado domingo 27 de septiembre, en la acampada por la vivienda en la madrileña Puerta del Sol, se comprobó que es uno de los estribillos que, con los brazos en alto, el público más corea. Hay algo ahí que importa. Buena parte de la ciuda...
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 My mortgage is a problem for the Fed, and for America  The mar ket is frozen and afford ab il ity is as ugly as it was in the hous ing bubble  Financial Times Europe 3 Oct 2026 Robert Armstrong robert.arm strong@ft.com  I bought my house in Brook lyn in 2020, using a 30-year fixed-rate mort gage priced at 2.75 per cent. Since then, infla tion and a strong eco nomy have driven the aver age rate for a 30-year fix well above 7 per cent. So I enjoy a big lump of way-below mar ket fin an cing while the value of my home has kept up with infla tion or bet ter, if online valu ation tools are to be believed. I feel very smug about this, but it’s bad for the coun try, and it’s not all good for me. Unless things change, I’m locked into the place until I die or turn 79, whichever comes first. Downs ize when the kids leave? Move for a great job offer in another city? Nope. Both would leave me poorer. Mort gages like mine are the reason why US home prices are very “sticky down.” ...
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  What we can learn from Spain’s housing crisis  A Financial Times Europe 3 Oct 2026 John Burn-Mur doch john.burn-mur doch@ft.com  Although hous ing crises have been smoul der ing across much of the highin come world for a dec ade or more, they have gen er ally ten ded to rank some way down the polit ical agenda. That may be about to change, with reports sug gest ing Span ish prime min is ter Pedro Sánchez is con sid er ing call ing an early elec tion in a bid to resolve mount ing pub lic and polit ical dis con tent over spiralling rents and prices after his flag ship hous ing bill was rejec ted by par lia ment yes ter day.  Mass protests were sparked recently by the case of 87-year-old Mari car men Abas cal. She was served an evic tion notice after her pre vi ously rent-con trolled flat was bought by a cor por ate land lord which sought to increase the rent to a level well above her income. Much of the anger has centred on the role of so-called “vul ture funds” in t...
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  How the eviction of an 87-year-old became Spain's 'last straw' It was an image of an 87-year-old woman on a stretcher, wheeled out by paramedics, that sparked a national movement. She was not sick. Rather, evicted. Maricarmen Abascal, who uses a wheelchair, was stretchered out of her Madrid home. (Getty Images: Luciano Lima) Maricarmen Abascal had lived in her Madrid apartment for more than 70 years. She took over the lease her father signed in 1956, and enjoyed capped rent. Then, in 2018, her apartment was bought by an investment firm. The monthly rent soon soared from €500 ($811) to €1,650 ($2,678). And Maricarmen, a pensioner with a disability whose monthly benefits total €1,350 ($2,192), was forced out in a court-ordered eviction.  A sign supporting the pensioner reads: "This system must burn. Maricarmen, you are not alone." (Reuters: Susana Vera) For Spaniards, the eviction stirred up a deep-seated anger over a housing crisis that has only worsened in recen...
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